Werdum’s longtime coach, Kings MMA’s Rafael Cordeiro, naturally expects his student to come out ahead in a rematch of a 2014 title-eliminator in which the ex-champ dominated Browne. Then he expects to lobby hard for another shot at the belt.

“This is what we’re looking for,” Werdum told our partners at Champions.co. “You never know – the UFC always decides what’s best for the fighter. But we believe, as a team, that Fabricio is ready for the title shot, right after this fight.

“He’s got to pass Travis, but as soon as he passes Travis, we’re going to look for the belt again.”

Werdum, the No. 2 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, pushed for a rematch after No. 1 Miocic’s (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) upset win in May at UFC 198, which snapped a six-fight win streak for the Brazilian and silenced his countrymen. But the decisive result left the promotion with little interest in the prospect. Alistair Overeem (41-14 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who beat ex-champ Andrei Arlovski (25-13 MMA, 14-7 UFC) the previous week, got the title nod instead.

Overeem, the No. 5-ranked heavyweight, owns a decision win over Werdum five years ago under the now-defunct Strikeforce banner. He now attempts to make Miocic’s run at champ a very short one in the headliner of UFC 203. Whoever wins, Werdum is looking at the opportunity to redeem himself – and the sooner the better.